Negro Leagues Committee Awards Grants to School Libraries

The Negro Leagues Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) has awarded $1,000 library grants to Liberty Middle School of Ocala, Florida, and Edward T. Bowser Sr. Elementary School in East Orange, New Jersey. School libraries from across the country were invited to submit grant proposals centering on educating students about black baseball and American history.

Todd Peterson: Winning entry in 2010 Malloy Conference Art ContestLiberty Middle School intends to use the grant to purchase new books for the library; to provide students with the chance to attend a 2011 Education Day game at Jackie Robinson Park in Daytona Beach, Florida; and to read two books, researching and presenting their findings to the class. More than 110 students will be involved with this project. Terri Mayhew Adams is the school librarian.

Edward T. Bowser Sr. Elementary School intends to use the grant to purchase new books for the library; to create social awareness through projects that connect students through the history to the participants and their community; to invite the community to the school to view student projects; to create online video podcasts to archive their work; and to engage in Skype conversations with scholars, authors, researchers and former ballplayers. Ilia Kerstein is the school librarian.

Judges for the library grant program were Dick Clark, member of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference; Tim Bottorff, Head Librarian of the Universal Orlando Foundation Library, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida; and Mark Moore, Senior Subject Librarian of the Cleveland Public Library. Special thanks goes to Erik Rostamian, National Accounts Manager, Follett Library Resources.

Enter the 2011 Art Contest

The Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference is still accepting entries for its 2011 Art Contest. Deadline to submit an entry is May 6. Details can be found here.

Phillip Dewey: Winning entry in 2010 Malloy Conference Art ContestThe winning contestant in each category, plus runner-up, will have his or her art displayed in a special area during the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, July 21-23 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana. The winning entry in each category will also receive a $400 prize and a certificate from the conference. Photos of winning entries and runners up will also be included in an upcoming issue of Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal (published by McFarland).

Early registration still available

The early registration rate is still available through April 18 for the 2011 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, July 21-23 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana. For information on room rates and how to register, click here:

The annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference is hosted by SABR's Negro Leagues Committee, which encourages the study and research of African American baseball and its influence on society and sport history. The conference promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives.

For the past 13 years, the conference has been the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination and promotion of black baseball history. The conference is open to baseball and history fans of all ages, not just SABR members.